The impact of uncertainty management on work engagement, initiative taking and career planning: Mixed method research

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of uncertainty management on work engagement, initiative taking and career planning. In the research, the following explanations sub-pattern of the explanatory sequential mixed method design was used. The process involved collecting quantitative data first and then supporting the quantitative results with extensive qualitative data. The quantitative part of the research was carried out with the functional paradigm and the qualitative part with the hermeneutic paradigm. This mixed method research is gathered under the umbrella of pragmatism, which brings together the philosophy of both realism and idealism. The quantitative part of the research was designed according to the descriptive and relational survey model, and the qualitative part was designed according to the nested single case study pattern of the case study. The study is generally a mixed case study. The sample of the quantitative part of the research was selected from the education administrators working in Karatay, Meram and Selçuklu districts of Konya. In this selection, cluster and simple random sampling method were applied. The qualitative part sample (included in the quantitative part sample) was selected from volunteer education administrators by criterion sampling method. To collect the quantitative data of the research, the scales of "uncertainty management", "work engagement", " initiative taking " and "career planning" were used, respectively. Qualitative data were collected with a semi-structured interview form. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for the quantitative part. For the qualitative part; theme analysis, descriptive analysis, content analysis and analytical generalization were preferred. From the data obtained in the quantitative part of the research, it may be concluded that "work engagement", "initiative taking" and "career planning" influence uncertainty management. According to the data obtained in the qualitative part, it has been seen that education management should be made a profession so that education administrators can manage uncertainties, engage with the work, take initiative, and make career planning. In order to achieve this, it will be beneficial to select competent, sufficient and qualified education administrators on the basis of merit and fairness.